AN UNKNOWN WARRIOR

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 37, 8 November 1920, Page 3

AN UNKNOWN WARRIOR

BURIAL IN WESTMINSTER ABBES'

, CEREMONY TO END WITH

NOTE OF HOPE

By Tolograßh-Prea Auoolatlon-Oopytlitlit (Eec. November 7, 5.5 p.m.) London, Noverabor 5. Knal arrangements havo been made tor tho burial of nn unknown warrior at Westminster Abbey. Lord Curaon. states that tho Government is satisfied that the precautions taken are ample* to maintain that .ho man s identity will not bo known to anyone. It has been decided to make tfco ceremony entirely domestic. Hence tho Allies will not participate In it, but oa the French desired to take part tho French destroyer Verdui, ba.s been selected w convey the body to England as a compliment to France. Tho French will hand the body over at Boulogne with military honours. A Field-Marshal's salute will be fired at Dover on tho arrival of tho body on oho afternoon of November 10 iho body will lie in a specially-prepared chapel at t<he Victoria railway station, and a military guard will be posted there all night. Another Field-Marshal's saluto .will bo fired when tho body is placed on a gun-carriage at 9.40 o'clock on tho morning of November 11' Tho coffin will be inscribed "A British Warrior, Who Fell m the Great War, 1914-18. For King and Country." It is not even known if tho body will be ilhat of an Englishman or a -Dominion soldier.

Besides ■ representatives of all the services, detachments of men of,tho mercantile marine who saw service will participate in the procession. The coffin will be covered with a Union Jack from tho battlefields which was used at many military funerals at the frontl The pallbearers will bo Admirab of the Fleet Sir Hedworth Menx and Earl "Scatty, Admirals Sir Thomas Jackson, Sir Doveton Sturdee, and Sir Charles Madden, FioldMarslials Viscount French, Earl Haig, and Lord Methuen, Genoral Sir Henry Wilson, Sir Henry Home, and Baron Byng, Air-Marshal Sir Hugh Tfenchard. When the procession reaches tho Cenotaph in Whitehall, the gun-carriage will halt before tho Kin;;. . The Primate and the Bishop, of London will conduct a service at which massed choirs will assist. Tho King-will jinveh tire Cenotaph as Big Ben chimes the last stroke of eleven. Elsewhere maroons will be fired in the metropolis in order that the flwo minutes' pause maybe cynchronised. At, the expiration of two minutes' the procession will bo re-formed, tho King marchin* to tho Abbey immediately bohind the coffin, followed by tho Prince cf Wales and 4he other Prince?, the Prime Ministor, and the other Ministers. The Dean and Chapter will receive; the coffin at the Abbey and conduct it to the open grave, where a short service will be held After tho coffin has been lowerod, muffled drums will roll out, and then massed buglers will sound th« Reveille. <!><■ ceremony thus ending with a note of hop*. If a black-fog should prevail, the ceremony at tho Cenotaph will bo omitted, tho coffin being brought from Victoria to the Abbey by tho shortest route. Over U,COO applications have been received from relatives of war victims for 1050 seats in the Abbey, and these will bo decided by lot. Only bereaved women will be given seats at the windows of Government offices overlooking the Cenotaph in Whitehall.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. TWO MINUTES' PAUSE THROUGHOUT EMPIRE. , (Rec. November 7, midnight.) London, November 7. Official—The King has approved the Cabinet committee's recommendation for a complete suspension of all nonnnl business, work and locomotion throughout the Empire during the two minutes' silence at eleven o'clock on Armistice Dav.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable A6sn.